As described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,357,998, 6,260,569, and 6,546,947, which are incorporated by reference herein, there is a risk of conduit failure when working with fluids traveling through fluid conduits. Conduit failure can occur in high-pressure and low pressure situations.
When filling containers (which includes, but is not limited to, cylinders, tank trucks, rail cars, and stationary tanks) with compressed or non-compressed gasses or fluids, or operating equipment that relies on pressurized fluid flow or compressed gas, it is necessary for the fluid/gas to be transferred from one container to another. Although the fluid/gas can be transferred from one container to another using solid piping, it is common in many situations to use a flexible conduit or hose attached between the containers. A flexible hose allows ease of connection/disconnection of containers, as well as a limited range of motion between source and destination.
For example, compressed or non-compressed fluid/gas, such as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and chemicals, such as petroleum and acids are transported, stored and used in individual containers of varying size and capacity. In order to fill these containers with the desired product, it is necessary to connect each container to a filling connection (either singly or in groups) at the location of a gas filler/seller. In order to connect each container to the filling connection, a flexible hose is used to allow for quick connection/disconnection of the containers to the filling connection. A tilting station manifold is one example of a filling connection. In addition, operating equipment that runs or uses compressed gas (such as forklifts) or pressurized fluids (such as hydraulic systems) also benefit from the ease of use of flexible hose.
Hoses can fail, however, even though they are generally made from durable yet flexible materials/constructions, such as treated and reinforced rubber, neoprene, nylon, TEFLON™, stainless steel and others. Hose failures can occur from a number of causes, including ruptures, deteriorations and splits/cuts. When a hose fails, it can cause substantial damage in a number of ways. First, if a hose is completely severed or split, both ends of the hose can whip around wildly under the forces of the compressed gas or fluid, now exerted from the delivery end and the receiving end. In addition, if a container is not secured, the pressure of the gas or fluid leaving the container can cause the container to move very rapidly in the opposite direction of the gas/fluid. Both of these situations can result in substantial risk of personal injury, as well as property damage. Still further, a hose failure will cause a leak from both the delivery and receiving ends, leading to a costly waste of gas or fluid, the discharge of hazardous gas or fluids, as well as the by potential of filling the environment with hazardous fumes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,998 discloses a successful fluid conduit safety system that uses a flexible, yet relatively stiff cable disposed inside of a hose to maintain single valve bodies at either end of the hose in an open position during normal or open operation. When a failure condition, such as a rupture, cut, separation or stretch of the hose occurs, the valve bodies are able to seat with the valve seats, sealing both ends of the hose. This prevents fluid/gas leaks from both sources (i.e. container and filling apparatus). When a failure occurs, the flexible, yet relatively stiff cable may be severed, allowing the fluid pressure to force the valve bodies into engagement with the valve seats. If a hose failure does not sever the cable, the valve seats are either forced into engagement with the valve bodies or the valve bodies are forced into engagement with the valve seats. In either circumstance, a seal is accomplished by seating the valve bodies with the valve, seats. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,260,569 and 6,546,947 disclose additional improvements in such a fluid conduit system.
Thus, when a hose suffers a failure condition, these systems prevent excessive spillage by stopping the flow of fluid via the seating of the valve bodies with the valve seats. However, particularly under higher pressure applications, a failure condition involving complete severing of the hose may cause the ends thereof to “whip” uncontrollably during the brief time between the failure condition and the interruption of flow. The whipping ends of hose present a hazard to anyone present in the area.
Flow through such conduit systems, particularly higher pressure applications through smaller gauge hoses (e.g., half inch or three quarter inch) also tends to generate a large amount of heat, which itself may cause, in part or in whole, a failure condition.
The art is in need of improved safety conduit systems which allow for dissipation of heat, and which prevent uncontrolled whipping of the ends of the conduit upon a failure condition.